Bottle counter



Feb. 28,, 1950 J. H. IRONS 2,499,143

. BOTTLE COUNTER Filed July 6, 1946. 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

JOHN H. IRONS Feb. 28, 1950 Filed July 6, 19.46

J. H. IRONS BOTTLE, COUNTER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 20 x Al IL I0 lo 0 llll ull 'HH INVENTOR.

JOHN H. IRONS ATTOR EY Feb. 28, 1950 J. H. IRONS 7 2,499,143

BOTTLE COUNTER Filed July 6, 1946 4 Sheds-Sheet 3 ///Z/' munnumunmuw FIG.4

INVENTOR. JOHN H. IRONS Patented Feb. 28, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 BOTTLE COUNTER John H. Irons, Middlebury, Conn.

Application July 6, 1946, Serial No. 681,739

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to bottling machines, and more particularly to an electrically-operated mechanism for counting vertical bottles automatically as they pass through a filling machine, and having means for recording the number of bottles on a counting unit, which may be located at any desired distance from said filling machine.

One object of the present invention is to provide a bottle counting machine of the above nature, in which the bottles passing successively by a fixed point in the filling machine will engage a switch lever for actuating an electromagnetic counter.

A further objectis to provide a device of the above nature having a selector unit for adjusting the machine to operate on different sizes of bottles being filled by the machine.

A further object is to provide a device of the above nature which will be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to install and manipulate, compact, ornamental in appearance, waterproof, and very efiicient and durable in use. p

With these and other objects in view, there has been illustrated on the accompanying drawings one form in which the invention may conveniently be embodied in practice.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 represents a diagrammatic view of the rotor of a milk bottle filling machine showing the circular path through which the bottles travel as they pass through the machine.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the bottle filling machine showing the appearance of the counteractuating switch lever and associated parts.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the counter-actuating switch mechanism shown by itself and illustrating in dotted lines two sizes of bottles which may be counted thereby.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the same.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the selector switch of the bottle counting mechanism.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view showing the electrical connections between the contactor switch, the selector switch unit, and the electromagnetic counter units.

By means of the present invention a mechanism has been provided which will automatically count bottles passing through a bottling machine in a dairy or elsewhere, and which will start and stop with said machine and require no attention from the operator. As herein shown, four electromagnetic counters may be selectively employed to count quarts, pints, one-third within the range of the filling machine which includes a frame F and a rotor H upon which bottles are supported during the filling operation.

In order to count the number of bottles passing through the filling machine provision is made of a bottle-actuated contactor lever l2 which is preferably curved and mounted to swing horizontally on a vertical pivot pin 12b carried by an angular bracket plate l2a.

The lever l2 carries a vertical pin [3a connected by a strong coiled spring I9 to a horizontal pin i312 mounted on a switch-supporting plate I30. bottle Ill, it will be swung from the full line position to the dotted line position, shown in Fig. 3, and will release a spring-operated plunger 13, closing a microswitch Ma located within a casing l4 (Fig. 3, 4, 5, and 8).

The successive opening and closing of the switch [4a causes the operation of one of four electromagnetic counters, indicated by the numerals I5, l6, l1, l8, depending upon the size of bottle being filled by the machine.

The filler head of the bottle filling machine is indicated by the numeral 20, and said head includes a plurality of depending nozzles N. The

machine also has a vertical central body C.

In order to select the proper electromagnetic counter to correspond with the size of the bottle being filled, provision is made of a link 2! connected to a horizontal pin 22, carried by a pedestal 23 depending from a vertical shaft 23a. The pin 22 is also connected by means of a link 2303 to an upper horizontal pin 23e connected in turn to a curved arm 230, the other end of which is rigidly mounted on a rockable shaft 23b carried by a fixed bracket 23F located on the frame F of the bottling machine.

By means of this construction, by raising and lowering the pedestal 23, the head of the milk bottling machine and the selector mechanism for the counting unit will be simultaneously adjusted to take care of bottling any one of the four different sizes on which the bottling machine may be operated.

The link 2| is connected by means of a lever Each time the lever I2 is engaged by a.

flexible lead 40 to a junction block 4| which is.

connected by a conductor 42 to the switch (4d. Current is supplied to the electrical apparatus bya pair of line wires 43, 44.

A resistance 45 is included in the supply cir-' cult to reduce the voltage to the electromagnetic counters l5, l6, l1, l3 if found to be necessary. The line wire 44 is connected to the counter units l5, I6, l1, l8 by a common conductor 45a and individual conductors 46, 47, 48, 49';- The resistance 45 is joined by aconductor 50 to= the other terminal of the microswitch' l4a; theconductors 42; 50 being housed in'a protective pipe P (see Fig. 2).

Before starting the operation of thebottle filling machine, the filler head 23 must first be raised' or lowered and the'selecton mechanism adjusted accordingly by rocking the shaft 233 and locking the pedestal shaft23A by mechanism:

notshown.

Operation Iniuse, asthe bottles i successively engage-the:- leve'r' l2, the microswitch l4a will be closed: and.

then automatically returned to opem position thusalternately. making'and breaking the electrical circuit through the counter-apparatus.-

One advantage of'the present invention is that the plunger l3 of the microswit'chi Mat will move the same distance at each operation,- regardless: of the size of the-bottle I0; thus reducin'g wear on said microswitch;

Thecontacts' 28, 29, 30, 3| onthfibrous-blOCK- 32 are soispaced that when the filler head 20- is locked in position for filling'qua'rts, pints; onethird quarts and one-half pints; selectively; the:

leaf spring: contact 24 will close the particular electric circuit leading to the: corresponding" magnetic counters 15; I6, l1, Hi.

It will thus be understood that: there an individual counter foreach size-of bottle, and that'- for whatever size the filler h'eadisset; the correct counter will be in circuit, asshown by the wir ing diagram of Fig. 8.

While there has been: disclosed in'this specifi-- cation one. form in which: the: invention: maybe embodied, it is to'rbeunderstood that this form is shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosure, but may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. In short, the invention includes all the modifications and embodiments comin within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, and for'which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

1. In a mechanism for counting bottles moving in a predetermined path in a bottle-filling machine of the type which has vertically adjustable means for permitting the filling of bottles of different: heights; a switch having an actuating leverextending into said path and adapted to be successively engaged by each bottle for operating said switch, a plurality of electro-magnetically operated counter units, means comprising a selector switch for setting said first-mentioned'switch selectivelyin circuit-with any one of 'said'counterunits, and linkage means for settingisaid selector'switch: in accordance with the elevation of said vertically adjustable" means,

whereby bottles of 'difi'erent heights may be registered respectively upon different counter units 2. The invention as-defined'in claim 1', inwhicli said actuatin'glever has=a spring urging the lever into. the pathof the bottles so a'st'o be outwardly swung by each bottle, and said first-mentioned switchv includes a movable contact, a spring urging saidcontact' to closed position, and an operating element movable through a limited small: range and connected with said contact, said lever being swin'gable througli a wide range and normally pressed by-its-spring against said operating element to hold said contact open, whereby said first-mentioned switch may be ac tuated by' a small initial outward movement of said lever, and di'fferences in the widths of the bottles moving in" said' path will have no' efiect upon" the operation of said' switches or said counter units.

J OHN HJ IRONS.

REFERENCES Q CI'IDED The following references are of record in the filaof this. patent:

UNITED- STATES PATENTS" Number Name Date 548,243 Wood" 0013.22} 1895 1,744,259 Carlson Jan. 21, 1930 2,089,936 Ahlburg Aug. 17, 1937 2,260j7'71 B'uccioneet'ali Oct.28, 1941 2,329,825 Champion Sept. 21', 1943 23371813 Grossenbach'er uu Dec; 28, 1943 

